Toothpastes or dentifrices have been in use for a long time to improve the mechanical tooth-cleaning effect while using toothbrushes in various embodiments.
In addition to active ingredients for preventing caries, conventional toothpastes contain a number of different substances, for example, flavorings, preservatives, foaming agents and humectants, which form a soft toothpaste having an attractive appearance and a creamy consistency.
To support the mechanical cleaning of tooth surfaces to eliminate plaque and bacteria, toothpastes today contain a cleaning substance that contains abrasives. These abrasives usually consist of mineral substances in different grain sizes, which have abrasive effects, so that the tooth surfaces can be cleaned in a gentle manner.
For patients who wear orthodontic appliances, in particular braces, tooth cleaning using conventional toothpaste repeatedly results in problematical deposits of toothpaste residues on the orthodontic braces because of the abrasives. The various substances of various grain sizes form unwanted deposits because they can no longer be removed with a toothbrush. The result is a restricted effect because the unwanted deposits reduce the mobility of the arch wires in the orthodontic brace, which has the effect of interfering with the treatment.
To prevent problematical deposits on the movable parts of orthodontic braces, orthodontic patients may rely on non-abrasive toothpastes, i.e., they containing no abrasives. However, the cleaning results are then often inadequate. There have also been attempts to use various abrasives which clean the teeth in a gentle manner but hardly cause any problematical deposits at all.
DE4008995 discloses a toothpaste containing activated carbon powder as an abrasive. The granularity of the activated carbon is selected so that the activated carbon particles have open pores and are fine-grained, with an average diameter between 2 μm and 20 μm, such that the surface development and/or the internal surface area is greater than 300 m2/g. The abrasive effect of the activated carbon particles in a formulation containing between 0.5 wt % and 50 wt % and having the aforementioned grain size is not adequate, so the cleaning results are inadequate for patients having orthodontic braces. In addition, interfering deposits may nevertheless occur on dental clamps because of the minerals such as diatomaceous earth and various carbonates that are still present in the toothpaste as well as the deposits of very small carbon particles per se. This source does not disclose whether the activated carbon particles are from hard coal or charcoal.
To prevent deposits, an attempt may additionally be made to use a mouth wash after toothbrushing. A suitable mouth wash must be discovered and acquired accordingly. It cannot be assumed here that the deposits have been eliminated.
WO2009/045856 describes a special toothbrush having bristles, into which activated carbon particles for example, are incorporated. These activated carbon particles are released from the bristles while brushing the teeth and serve as activators for a bleaching reaction with a bleach present in the toothpaste. A bleaching effect can be achieved from brushing teeth by using the toothbrush and adding activated carbon particles to the toothpaste, which must necessarily contain a bleaching agent. Activated carbon here serves merely as an activator, but no information can be provided about the shape and properties of the activated carbon particles. According to WO2009/045856, the special problems involving patients who use dental clamps are not discussed, and the toothbrush described there is not intended for tooth-brushing several times a day.